Getting Started (Step 2): Building Your Library – ATS Guide

The next step in setting up your Applicant Tracking System is to create content for your job element libraries and message template library. These libraries are where all of the content is stored and later used to create your company's job templates, job postings, and applicant messages.

To get started, review the following information on the job element libraries while opening each section in your system as you read along. Some libraries come with default content or pre-built information, so you will just need to review and edit if desired, while other sections will need to be fully customized with your own content.

Information Elements Library

The elements contained in this section can be used in a job posting to inform applicants of the basic attributes of the job. Select Information Elements from the menu and then click each individual element to review, edit, add, or remove content. Available elements are as follows:

Department (required): A default set of department names is provided. Review to confirm if your organization would like to add or remove any categories.
Employment Type (required): A default set of employment types is provided. Review to confirm if your organization would like to add or remove any categories.
Company Description (required): One or more company descriptions can be added to this library.
Job Description (required): This is a library of all job titles and descriptions at your organization. Create job descriptions for each position before creating a template.
Benefits (optional, but recommended): Create and define the benefits packages being offered to the applicant.
Video (optional): Add the name and description to embed a video that will be displayed on the application home page.
Custom (optional): A custom element is a description of an organizational attribute (e.g., award-winning cultural environment) or a benefit that deserves exceptional recognition (e.g., full tuition reimbursement for continuing education). Once created, a custom element will be displayed on the application home page.

Note: Each information element has a quick +Create button in the upper right to create new content. Once created, selecting the ⋮ menu will allow users to edit or delete elements.

Applicant Elements Library

The elements in this section are System and Question Sets. These elements are used to collect information from the job applicant. Select Applicant Elements from the menu and then click each individual element to review, edit, add, or remove content.

System

The following system elements are global settings for all job templates, and they include individual fields that can be set to required, optional, or hidden. In addition, the system elements enable users to use the text editor to write detailed applicant instructions that will appear within the application.

Certifications
Education History
Employment History
References

Question Sets

Question sets collect information from job applicants during the online job application process. For hiring flexibility, we suggest that when creating job templates, you should group the question sets into general questions and job-specific questions. When creating question sets, they can be defined as a Standard Applicant Element or AutoScore Applicant Element.

AutoScore Applicant Element: Auto-scored question sets produce a score that helps highlight potential quality applicants from the applicant queue and individual applicant files. Question types within this set will be scored automatically against the desired yes/no response.
Standard Applicant Element: Standard question sets do not provide scores, but they offer additional question types (i.e., text responses and file upload). The answers in the Applicant File can be given an overall rating manually by a user.

Processing Elements Library

Processing elements are workflow configurations and other system settings created and edited by an account administrator.

Workflows (required): A workflow is a series of stages and steps that represent the job applicant processing path that appears in an applicant's file. At least one workflow must be defined before a Job Template is created. A default workflow is provided in your hiring system, which can be used as is or edited.
Applicant Flags (optional): A user can mark an applicant file using colored and labeled flags to help identify applicant quality.
Reference Forms (required): A reference form is a series of questions that can be sent to an applicant's references (if required as part of the application). At least one reference form must be defined before a Job Template is created. A default form is provided in your hiring system, which can be used as is or edited.

Message Templates Library

The Message Templates library comes pre-built with content. Clicking on the Message Templates tab from the main menu will display the default folders and templates or emails that will go out to applicants, references, etc. Select the message title to open, review, and edit the content of each message.